Thursday of the First Week of Lent
(Esther C:12.14-16.23-25; Matthew 7:7-12)
Esther was literally a beauty queen. King Ahasuerus (Xerxes in Greek history)
called for a contest to find the most beautiful woman to replace his wife who
refused to heed his command. Like young women
today, it seems that Esther cared more about a sweet life than a righteous one. In today’s reading she admits that as a child
she heard of the power of prayer as if she hasn’t prayed recently.
Yet Esther gives herself completely to prayer when it becomes
her only hope. She prostrated herself an
entire day beseeching God’s mercy for her people as well as for herself. It is the same heartfelt prayer that Jesus
recommends to his disciples in the today’s gospel.
We likewise should pray hard and often that we may be
delivered from evil to do good. God
loves us and will provide our needs. He
wants us to pray so that our hearts might be expanded to have mercy on others.
